First podium for Sagar
By TMX Archives on 11th May 07
JUHA Salminen, Johnny Aubert and Ivan Cervantes, along with Enduro Junior class rider Christophe Nambotin, were the big winners at the GP of Portugal staged in Marco de Canaveses where each of the four riders topped their respective classes on both days of the third round of the '07 WEC series.
Unlike the second round of the series in Spain, which essentially featured three motocross special tests, the GP of Portugal proved to be both technically challenging and physically demanding due to the dry and rocky terrain and hot temperatures.
In the Enduro 1 category, Juha Salminen continued his domination of the class by comfortably winning both days to remain unbeaten so far this season. Winning day one by 30 seconds the KTM mounted Finn was never really challenged and made light work of the event's extreme, motocross and enduro tests.
On day two Juha was even more dominant with no other E1 class rider able to get close to him. Winning by 40 seconds Juha's consistently fast motocross and enduro test times saw him edge ahead throughout the day and the Finn edged one step closer to a record equalling seventh world crown.
"It's been a good weekend for me and I haven't had too many problems,” explained Salminen at the end of the event. "I had some difficulties with the enduro tests but apart from that I felt good. I'm enjoying my riding, am really happy with my bike, and although there's a long way to go in the championship I'm happy with the way everything is going.”
While no rider was able to match Salminen's pace, five riders battled for the runner-up position on day one with Frenchman Marc Germain eventually claiming it with Spaniard Cristobal Guerrero performing well as he did at his home round of the series to secure third.
Italian Alessandro Belometti started the day well but his hopes of a podium finish ended when he injured his left foot after hitting a rock.
On day two there was again little to seperate the same five riders although Belometti was unable to be as competitive as he was on day one due to his injured left foot.
Winning the first test of the second day, Cristobal Guerrero went on to claim the runner-up spot in the class, proving himself as the bright young star of the E1 class. Locked in a day long battle with Husqvarna mounted Bartosz Oblucki, the two were separated by less than two seconds at the end of the day.
Scoring points on both days, TM mounted Tim Lewis placed 18th on day one before going on to finish in 15th on day two.
Just as he did at the GP of Spain, Yamaha mounted Frenchman Johnny Aubert topped the Enduro 2 class in Portugal with two dominant performances that left many asking whether any rider will be able to beat the Frenchman this season.
Extremely aggressive on each of the special tests, Johnny was kept honest by Finn Mika Ahola on day one but managed to win by close to 12 seconds, despite a fall on the motocross test.
On day two Aubert was unstoppable and despite a slow start to the day went on to top seven special tests to win by almost 40 seconds. "I was looking forward to the race after winning last weekend in Spain and although I didn't feel 100 per cent I relaxed from the start on day one after a few special tests I felt good,” commented the former GP motocross rider. "I opened up a good lead and started to ride smoothly. I crashed once in the motocross test, but I only lost a few seconds.
"Day two also went well but I crashed twice in the extreme test, which cost me some time. I had to push hard all day and from the second lap on I felt good. It was a hard race though because the special tests got really rough. I'm so happy with my results, and a little surprised.”
With Mika Ahola putting up the strongest challenge to Aubert on day one, Australian Stefan Merriman claimed the final podium position aboard his Aprilia. On day two Mika again claimed the runner-up spot with KTM's reigning E2 class champion Samuli Aro placing third after missing out on a podium place on day one.
The third rider to claim a double class win in Portugal was Ivan Cervantes. Battling with Husqvarna's Seb Guillaume during much of day one there was little to separate the two riders with Guillaume holding the upper hand for much of the day. But on the last lap two mistakes by the Frenchman allowed Cervantes to claim the win with just five seconds separating the two riders at the finish. Claiming third on day one was Ivan's KTM team-mate Marko Tarkkala.
On day two Guillaume failed to find the speed that almost saw him top the first day and he placed third, despite winning the final two tests of the event. Second, having started well before fading a little towards the end of the day was Marko Tarkkala who saw his lead in the E3 championship come to an end.
Winning by close to 40 seconds, Ivan dominated the E3 class on day two showing that he is serious about adding the E3 world championship title to his two E1 world crowns. Topping seven tests and hardly putting a foot wrong all day, Ivan's fourth win in six days of WEC competition also saw him move ahead of team-mate Tarkkala in the E3 championship standings.
"It's been a great weekend for me,” admitted Ivan. "After winning in Spain I felt under a little bit of pressure. Some people were saying that I only won because the race was in Spain so I really wanted to get a good result in Portugal, which I've done. I'm now leading the E3 championship, which I'm also really happy with. I know that there is a long way to go in the championship but to be leading is perfect. I can now begin to start pushing hard to extend my lead.
"I had a good fight with Seb on day one and with Tarkkala on day two, but I have enjoyed the race. It has been hard though because the tests have been really rough and rutted.”
Euan McConnell placed tenth in the class on day one before upping his pace and finishing in a creditable seventh on day two. With Euan breaking into the top ten for the first time this season the TM rider placed ahead of former world champions Fred Bolley and Anders Eriksson.
In the Enduro Junior class Gas Gas mounted Frenchman Christophe Nambotin claimed his second consecutive double EJ class win after dominating the first day, before fending off reigning class champion Joakim Ljunggren on day two.
But it was the performance of Britain's Tom Sagar on day one that impressed many in Portugal as the KTM mounted WEC newcomer claimed an impressive runner-up spot behind Nambotin. Winning the first timed test of the day, Sagar went on to perform well on the event's motocross and enduro tests to finish the day 24 seconds behind the Frenchman and in doing so claimed his first ever WEC podium.
On day two things didn't go quite so well as two crashes and a de-railed chain dropped him down the EJ results and he finished in eighth. Despite being disappointed with his day two result Sagar's day one performance showed that although relatively inexperienced he has the speed to make a real impression on this year's junior championship.
Also competing in the EJ class in Portugal were Husqvarna mounted Brits Si Wakely and Daryl Bolter. With the pair finishing ninth and tenth respectively on the first day hopes of better results on day two were ended when Bolter crashed heavily on one of the motocross tests and Wakely failed to finish the second day.
2007 World Enduro Championship
Rd 3 - Grand Prix of Portugal
Day 2
Enduro 1: 1 Juha Salminen (KTM) 54:41.68, 2 Cristobal Guerrero (Yamaha) 55:21.77, 3 Bartosz Oblucki (Husqvarna) 55:23.40, 4 Simone Albergoni (Yamaha) 55:30.62, 5 Marc Germain (Yamaha) 55:31.32, 6 Alessandro Belometti (KTM) 56:22.20.
Enduro 2: 1 Johnny Aubert (Yamaha) 54:19.39, 2 Mika Ahola (Honda) 54:56.93, 3 Samuli Aro (KTM) 55:06.16, 4 Stefan Merriman (Aprilia) 55:45.82, 5 Fabien Planet (KTM) 56:22.74, 6 Xavi Galindo (KTM) 56:42.97.
Enduro 3: 1 Ivan Cervantes (KTM) 54:35.23: 2 Marko Tarkkala (KTM) 55:13.90, 3 Seb Guillaume (Husqvarna) 55:36.64, 4 Bjorne Carlsson (Husaberg) 56:30.83, 5 Alessandro Botturi (Honda) 56:38.70, 6 Marcus Kehr (KTM) 57:02.85.
Enduro Junior: 1 Christophe Nambotin (Gas Gas) 56:21.90, 2 Joakim Ljunggren (Husaberg) 56:28.77, 3 Lorenzo Santolino (KTM) 57:08.90, 4 Marc Bourgeois (Husqvarna) 57:50.27, 5 Oscar Balletti (Honda) 58:08.17, 6 Thomas Oldrati (KTM) 58:20.78.
For full report, results and pictures see T+MX May 11, 2007